40

It’s cool in the car as Semyon drives us to Mayfair. I lean back against the leather and try to calm myself down. I have a plan. Well, it’s kind of a plan.

Yana comes hurrying into the lofty entrance hallway as Semyon and I enter the house. “He’s in the study,” she says in a hushed voice.

I thank her and walk to the study. I think I am even more nervous now than when I went to look for him in the club. Then I just assumed he would take me back. What I got was rejection and humiliation. I knock on the door and nearly die when I hear his voice say what I presume must be enter in Russian.

I straighten my shoulders. I can do this. I push open the door. He is not at his desk. He is sitting on the sofa with his feet up on the low table. He turns his face towards me and freezes. The seconds tick away while we stare at each other.

“What are you doing here?” His voice is strangely calm. There’s something different about him. He looks tired. Olde